Merchandise and premium vending machine



MERCHANDISE AND PREMIUM VENDING MACHINE l" S2/M I Nov. 7, 1944.

Nov. 7, 1944. T. E. sTAlR MERCHANDISE AND PREMIUM VENDING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan.

lNvENTOR TROY E. STAIR ATTGRN EYS NOV 7, 1944- T. E. sTAlR 2,361,977

MERCHANDISE AND PREMIUM VENDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11, 1941 5Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG-l2 'o' INVENTOR TROY E. STAIR ATTORNEYS` Nov. 7,1944. T. E. sTAIR MERCHANDISE AND PREMIUM VENDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed Jan. 11, 1941 /ll/ l FIG.

lNvENToR TROY E. STAIR BY Eatented Nov. 7, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE MERCHANDISE AND PREMIUM VENDING MACHINE 9 Claims.

The invention relates to a coin operated vending machine. It isspecifically directed to a machine of this nature constructed toregularly dispense merchandise, when coin actuated, and tointermittently dispense premium articles to purchasers of saidmerchandise at intervals which are unpredictable by the purchaseralthough inevitably resulting from certain prearranged sequences ofpurchases.

Vending machines have heretofore been devised which are coin operated,and which intermittently display a visible indication that a premium maybe obtained from an employee of the establishment where the machine islocated. The present machine is an improvement thereon in that it iscompletely self-contained since it automatically delivers the premium atthe moment the operator makes the purchase, and requires no reference tothe owner or employee of the establishment or elsewhere. It maytherefore be used where constant attendance is inconvenient orimpossible, with a consequent minimum of trouble to the purchaser andowner.

In a preferred embodiment the machine comprises three separate unitswhich are interdependent to the extent that two of these units are coinoperated dispensing machines of fairly conventional form, but either ofthese two units, on being operated by insertion of a coin, sets inmotion mechanism which, after one or more operations, causes the thirdunit, hereinafter known as the premium unit, to release a premium to anoutlet available to the purchasing operator. It will be obvious, onexamination of the drawings later to be described in conjunction withthe present specication, that only one coin operated unit, hereinafterknown as a merchandising unit, is suilicient to adequately operate thepremium unit. The purchasers interest is heightened, however, and hisuncertainty as to the prospects of an immediate premium is intensified,by the. use of two or more merchandising units in operative conjunctionwith at least one premium unit. It is further possible, and is withinthe purview of ordinary mechanical skill upon consideration of thedescription and drawings herein, to devise interesting combinationswherein a plurality of merchandising units are operatively associatedwith a plurality of premium units. A multiplicatio'n of units such asjust mentioned not only adds to the interest and suspense of thepurchaser, but also permits the display and sale of a greater variety ofvendible products, as well as a variety of selection of premiums. Forsimplicity and convenience, however, I have illustrated severalembodiments showing the operative association between one or twomerchandising units and one premium unit which serves to illustrate thegeneral principle involved.

It may occasionally be desirable to convert the premium unit to amerchandising unit which may be coin operated in a conventional manner.I have provided mechanism whereby such conversion may be rapidly andeasily effected by a single simple operation so that the mechanism willfunction as a plurality of direct merchandising units until it isdesired to again convert it to an intermittent premium dispensingarrangement. While operating as a premium dispensing device, it may beslightly modified to prevent the insertion of a coin in the premiumunit.

I have devised and hereinafter describe a structure which may beactuated, solely, by a simple impetus supplied by the operator, as byturning a knob or pushing a plunger. I have further devised and willhereinafter describe a structure which combines both mechanical andelectrical actuation. As will appear, electrification of the apparatusmay be substantially complete, or some operations may be performedmechanically, resulting in the completion of electrical circuits whichinduce further mechanical actuations. In any event the operatingmechanism is extremely simple to construct and maintain in continuoussuccessful operation.

An object of the apparatus, therefore, is the provision of a combinedmerchandise vending and premium dispensing machine wherein the premiumis delivered automatically to the operator.

A further object is the provision of a machine of this nature whereinone or more merchandising units may be combined in operativerelationship with one or more premium units.

A further object is the provision of a machine of this nature whereinthe premium unit may be readily converted to a merchandising unit.

A further object is the provision of a machine of this nature whereinthe additive effects of successive operations of one or moremerchandising units causes predetermined actuation of the premium unit,but wherein the sequence and period of successive actuations is unknownto the operator.

A further object is the provision of a machine of this nature wherein,by a simple operation, the sequence combination for determining theoperational periods of the premium unit may be predetermined by theowner or lessee of the machine.

A further object is the provision of a machine of this nature whereinthe operating mechanism to fulnll the above mentioned objects may bemechanically and/or electrically operated.

Other objects and advantages will become ap parent from a considerationof the following description in conjunction with the attached drawings,in which Fig. l is a front elevation of one embodiment of my inventionshowing a vending machine in which are combined two merchandising unitsand one premium unit, the latter being optionally convertible into anadditional merchandising unit.

Fig. 2 is a somewhat enlarged view, in front elevation, of the lowerportion of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the front cover being removed toshow a part of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, partsbeing broken away.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section, somewhat enlarged, taken on the line 6-6of Fig, 2.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the upper portion of the premium cabinet,the front cover being removed and parts being broken away, to show thearrangement when the shelves are empty.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of another embodiment of my invention,showing one premium unit in conjunction with one vending unit, thepremium unitfbeing optionally convertible into a vending unit. l

Fig. 9 shows yet another embodiment of my invention, in fragmentaryfront elevation, the cover being partially broken away, to illustrate adevice in which a pa-rt of the operation is electrically energized.

Fig. 10 is a section takenY on the line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9. l

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary front elevation, with cover removed, of thelower portion of yet another embodiment of my invention illustratingsubstantially complete electrical energization, using two independentpremium wheels instead of the one wheel shown in Fig, 5.

Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line |2-I2- of Fig. 1l.

Fig. 13 is a section taken on the line I3-I3 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary front elevation, with cover removed, of thelower portion of still another embodiment of my invention, showing agearing arrangement for an assembly having two separate premium wheelsoperatively associated with the same premium unit.

Fig. 15 is a section on the line |5-I5 of Fig. 14.

rPhe invention will first be described with reference to the embodimentshown in Figs. 1 to 7 which illustrate what I term, for convenience,mechanical operation, manually actuated. The embodiment shown in thedrawings, and now to be described, has two merchandising units which arecoin operated in the conventional manner, and one premium unit which mayoptionally be converted, by a simple operation, to an additionalmerchandising unit, although ordinarily it serves as a premiumdispensing unit intermittently operated by actuation of themerchandising units, as described hereinbelow. It should be borne inmind that although the invention is now described with reference to theembodiments shown, it is not in its broader aspects limited thereto, andthe present mechanically operated machine, and the later describedmachines which are either partially or completely electrically operated,may be constructed to comprise one or more merchandis ing units inoperative relationship with one or more premium dispensing units, aswill be obvious to any skilled mechanic after consideration of thedrawings in conjunction with the description herein.

Complete mechanical operation Referring first to Figs. 1 to '7, thevending machine therein shown comprises two merchandising unitsindicated generally at and a premium unit 2l (Fig. l). The merchandisingunit is conventionally constructed, except as hereinafter otherwiseindicated, and includes a merchandise container 22 to hold nuts, candy,or other conveniently vendible commodity. It is further provided with acoin slot 23 and a member, shown herein as a. knob 24, for actuating thedevice after insertion of the coin, as is well understood. It is notherein necessary to show or describe the well known constructionswherein an inserted coin serves as a key or otherwise operatively takespart in the delivery of a predetermined quantity of merchandise since anumber of mechanical devices and methods of operation are already knownwhich perform this function and any operative mechanism is quitesatisfactory. Upon actuation of the unit the merchandise may bedelivered in any familiar manner, and a receiving cup 25 is illustratedin Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the premium unit 2| includes ahousing 26, mounted onalhollow cabinet base 27 which also carriesthe'inerchandising units 20. A central partition 28 extends through themajor portion of the height of the housing and carries, on its front andrear surfaces, a luralit of shelves 29 which are hinged, as at 3l]I topartigon 28. rdil'iilly t He sh'lveare supported, at a location spacedfrom the hinge, by swivel pins 3|, which pins extend inwardly through alateral vertical partition 32 and are resiliently retained in pivotalrelationship around their point of passage through the partition byspring means 33 (Figs. 3 and 4). When tilted, by means hereinaftertqliedescribed, trie-she..dr.es:aai1fsi, 9.11? tained on the shelf,andmipdthegpresenlinstance--. ai'idybirthe'commodity, dropthroughatrapar u rgmthercppftnenastnetiitf" acngtesa,.unenvery"zrsrwniciifilitoma purchaser by means of an aperture 35 in the front cover of the basecabinet. Aggthezachute 34a, shomwnuin Fig. 4, is providgjpugooperatewith clit'm in d`eliifer'i'gpr`r'iims. Wil'tlie'nerl chaidslng-eunits,,2il-may--optionally be constructed at least in part of transparentmaterial to enable the purchaser to see the commodity he is purchasing,the premium cabinet 2| preferably carries a transparent front cover togive the purchaser an opportunity to appraise the character of thepremium which he may anticipate.

The operative association between the premium unit and the merchandisingunit or units will now be described, still referring to Figs. l to '7.The knob 24 associated with the coin slot of a merchandising unit 20 isafxed to a shaft 36 which is rotatably mounted in a suitable bushing 3lin the front wall of the cabinet 21. At its inner end shaft 3B carries abevel gear 38 which is in mesh with a corresponding bevel gear 39affixed to a vertical shaft 40 whereby rotation of knob 24 istransmitted to shaft 4U (Fig. 4). Shaft 40 is journaled at its oppositeends in end bearings in the top and bottom of the base cabinet interior,

the lower end bearing 4i being Shown in Fig- 2- Shaft 4U has affixedthereto a gear 42 which iS 1n mesh with an idler gear 43 rotatablycarried on a vertical shaft 44 attached at its lower end on the cabinetbase, at 45, and at its upper end in a T coupling 45, said couplinghaving rotatably mounted therein at right angles to shaft 44, a crossshaft 41 the function of which will be later described. Gear 43, beingan idler gear, may rotate on shaft 44, or shaft 44 may rotate, the gear4I being attached thereto. I prefer that shaft i4 be firmly fixed in thebase, as by a threaded connection in the flange 45. Cross shaft 41 issupported at its ends in removable end bearings 48 and 4! (Figs. 2 and5) carried by the cabinet walls and shaft 41 passes through suitablecollar bearings in T coupling 45, as aforesaid, and in additional Tcouplings 50 and 5I, as later described.

Gear 43 meshes with a geared premium wheel 52 which is rotatably mountedon a shaft 53 which also is fixed to the base at 53a as previouslydescribed with relation to shaft 44. The upper end of shaft 53 carriesa, T coupling 5U containing a collar bearing for shaft 41.

The top face of premium wheel 52 has upon its upper, outer peripherymeans for holding in position any selected number of keys 54. These keysmay be removably fixed, as shown, in suitable grooves 55, or in boredapertures, or otherwise held in any convenient manner which permits ofperiodic changes in the combination or arrangement of the keys by aservice man as will soon be understood, A swinging arm B is pivotallymounted at 51 on a cross bar 58, the cross bar being convenientlyaffixed by removable brackets to the front and rear walls of the cabinetand serving also as a brace therefor. 'I'he swinging arm carries on itsupper end a pawl 59 which engages with a ratchet wheel El! firmlyattached to shaft 41. By reference to Fig. 6 it will armear that if thegear 52 be rotated towards the right, the key 54, on reaching swingingarm Il, will cause arm 56 to move counterclockwise, the mutuallycooperating beveled faces 6| sliding on each other in cam and followerrelationship. and causing the pawl 59 to advance the ratchet 5D apredetermined amount depending on various factors well understood byskilled mechanics. said factors including the spacing of the ratchetteeth, and the length of swing of the pawl-carrying arm. Since theratchet wheel is attached to shaft 41, the movements detailedimmediately hereinabove, and induced by passage of a key under arm 5E,will result in a proportionate rotatie-n of shaft 41. It will be furtherapparent that the spacing and the number of keys 54 carried by premiumWheel 52 determines the frequency of actuation of the ratchet, pawl. andshaft 41. which in turn controls the delivery of a premium in a mannernow to be described.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3, and 4. shaft 4l has aillxed thereto asprocket wheel B2 which meshes with a chain belt 63, this chain drive atits upper extremity, passing over another sprocket wheel i4 mounted on abracket 64a which is suspended from the inner top portion of the premiumunit 2| or otherwise suitably carried within the upper portion of thepremium unit. Each rotation of shaft 41 by means of pawl 59 as aforesaidad vances the chain a predetermined increment of length.

A bracket 55 is carried by chain 63 (Fig. 3) and said bracket. in turn,carries a projecting rod or arm member which extends towards the frontof the premium unit housing. Another bracket. shown in dotted line at 6lin Fig. 4, carries another arm 68 which extends towards the rear of thepremium unit housing. As the bracket carrying portion of the chain movesupwardly. the arm $5 will, on alternate increments of chain travel,engage and tilt one of the spring DOS- tioned swivel pins 3|, so as tomove it to a position shown in dotted outline at E9 in Fig. 3, therebypermitting a'front shelf to drop so as to dislodge its premium intochute 34 as hereinbefore mentioned. operatively alternating therewith,the arm 6B will on the next advance of the chain engage a swivel pin 69supporting a rear shelf so as to dislodge the premium from said rearshelf in like manner.

It will now be apparent that the chain in its upward travel will causedisplacement, successively, of alternate front and rear shelves untilthe premium cabinet is completely empty. At this time arm 68 comes intoengagement with a stop member 10 carried on the housing 26, with thefollowing result.

Shaft 41 is provided with a suitable lost m0- tion device, such as anautomatic clutch 1l, the shaft being cut at this point and thecorresponding cut faces carrying engaging clutch members. The tensionbetween the mating faces of the clutch is adjusted so that ordinarilyany rotational movement applied to one clutch face is imparted to theother, but when the driven member comprising the chain and sprocket isobstructed as by the stop member 10, the mating clutch faces slide oneach other, and the premium unit is thereafter, in effect, inoperativeuntil a service operator retracts the chain to the point where arms 6Band 68 are below the lowermost premium shelf; the operator also refillsthe shelves for further operation.

I have set forth the operation of the premium wheel under the manualoperation of one merchandising unit, the motive effect being transmittedfrom knob 24 through gears 3B and 39. shaft 40, gears 42 and 43, andpremium wheel 52, and I have further explained that the premium wheeldrives shaft 41 through the intervention of keys 54 placed in haphazardpositions on the premium wheel, so that, in an actual example. if thereare 50 possible key positions but only l0 keys are distributed overthese 50 positions, then during 50 impulses imparted to the premiumwheel by 50 purchases from either or both merchandising units there willbe 10 premiums delivered but the specific time of delivery will beapparent only by access to the interior of the machine, and may bepredetermined only by the service opera-tor.

The mechanism, as so far described, could be incorporated in anembodiment such as shown in Fig. 8 which consists of a singlemerchandising unit in a housing |30 and a single premium unit in ahousing i 3|. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 7, however, there isshown a second merchandising unit which functions exactly in the mannerdescribed hereinabove, namely by transmitting impulses to the premiumWheel through shafts and gearing similar to the mechanism alreadydescribed. In a unit of this nature, therefore, a purchaser from eitherof the merchandising units, incbtaining his commodity, advances thepremium wheel a like increment. and his prospect of obtaining a premiumis not lessened by his choice of the merchandising unit. An assembly ofa plurality of merchandising units may thus be combined to operate onepremium wheel, ailording a wider choice of commodity containers fromwhich to choose. A skilled mechanic might also, after examining thepresent disclosure, provide merchandising units in an assembly' wheresome units are operated by coins of different denominations than others,the profit sharing prospects being equitably apportioned by gearsubstitutions which would advance the premium wheel a proportionatelygreater amount in this case of a coin purchase of higher denomination.For example, the machine could be readily altered so that while a onecent purchase advanced the premium wheel one increment, a nve centpurchase from another unit in the assembly would advance the premiumwheel five, or perhaps more, increments, thereby offering greaterincentive for the larger purchase. I have provided, and will laterdescribe, an embodiment for this purpose comprising, however, twopremium wheels.

In the embodiment so far shown and described, the rear set of shelvingmay be omitted although by its use the carrying capacity of the machineshown has been doubled.

I have further provided a construction, illustrated specifically inFigs. 1, 2 and 4, whereby the premium unit described above may beoperated as a merchandising unit either with or without conjoinedpremium operation. I have provided the vending machine with a coin slot|32 and a knob 'l2 which ordinarily (under premium operation as abovedescribed) are covered by a plate member 13 as indicated by the dottedline T4 in Fig. 1. Knob 12 rotates a shaft 15 which carries affixedthereto a. bevel gear 16. 'Ihis gear meshes with a corresponding bevelgear 71 on shaft 41, so that an actuation of the knob in conjunctionwith the insertion of a coin directly effects a rotation of shaft 4l andconsequently 'an increment advance of chain 63 so as to release anarticle from a. shelf 29 through the medium of operation of the shelftipping mechanism hereinabove described. If it be desirable to operatesolely as a coin operated merchandising device, plate 13 is removed andthe keys 54 may be removed from the premium Wheel. The unit 2|, however,will serve simultaneously as a coin operated or premium dispensingdevice if the machine is arranged for premium operation as originallydescribed while it is also equipped for coin operation withoutinterfering with premium actuations as described with relation to Figs.1 to '1.

It is therefore obvious that the device so far described is readilyadapted to the following three methods of operation.

(A) It may be operated as an assembly comprising at least one unitactuated solely by coin insertion and at least one unit operatingsolely,

- at intermittent periods, to distribute premiums,

so as to constitute a profit sharing system.

(B) It may be operated as an assembly comprising at least one unitactuated solely by coin insertion, and at least one unit operating. atintermittent periods, to distribute premiums, said later unit being alsosusceptible of coin operation of merchandise whenever desired.

(C) It may be operated as an assembly comprlsing a plurality of units,all being solely coin operated for the vending of any desiredmerchandise from the units as above described.

Fig. 7 shows, in vertical elevation, slightly in perspective, theappearance of the shelved section of an empty premium unit when theshelves have been tilted downwardly as liereinbefore described. It maybe observed that the shelves, in successively assuming their tiltedposition, present a shingled, overlapping relationship, which exposes toview from the front a part of each shelf the area of which isdeterminable by the sparing between shelves. This exposed area maysuitably be utilized as advertising space for instance by providing eachshelf with slots 11, as shown. The corners of rectangular cards bearingany desired legend such as advertising matter or instructive notationsmay be inserted in said slots. The cards are not readily visible whenthe shelf is in horizontal position, but are immediately exposed whenthe shelf drops, and remain in View until the premium compartment isrefilled. The topmost shelf may appropriately carry a notice that thecompartment is empty, with instructions on how to summon the serviceoperator. This card may also carry a notice that prespective purchasersmay continue to insert coins and thereby purchase merchandise from theregular merchandising units, but, for the time being, they do not enjoythe profit sharing feature, until such time as the service operatorreloads the premium shelves.

Partial electrical operation Figs, 9 and l0 are views of an embodimentsimilar in many respects to that shown in Figs. l to 7, but differing tothe extent that sprocket wheel 62, chain 63, and certain associatedmechanism already described have been dispensed with in the presentinstance. I have substituted electrically energized means for tiltingthe shelves as will now be explained.

Referring first to Fig, 9, shaft 41 is rotated at intermittent periodsby means of a ratchet and pawl, motivated by keys on premium wheel '52as already described, said mechanism not being shown in Fig. 9,reference being had to Figs. 2, 5, and 6 for this purpose.

A multiple contact disc, 18, is aiiixed to the inner cabinet wall, andcarries thereon a plurality of contact points 19, the numbercorresponding to that of a plurality of solenoids 8D (or electromagneticdevices of similar nature) having movable cores a, each core being heldin advanced position by pressure of a spring (not shown) so as tosupport the free edge of a hinged shelf 29.

A traveling contact arm is fixed to shaft- I1, and on each increment ofrotation of shaft 41 the contact arm advances to the next contact pointthereby completing a circuit through one of the solenoids so as toretract its shelf-supporting core 80a, thereby permitting the shelf todrop and deliver a premium or vendible commodity as hereinabove fullydescribed. A simple wiring diagram for two solenoids is shown in Fig.10. The lead to the contact arm may conveniently be arranged by means ofa ring 82 and brush 83, while a multiple strand cable 8l carries theleads for the various contact points.

To prevent continuous energization of a solenoid the positioning ofcontact arm 8l on shaft 4T by set screw 41a is so arranged that the armtravels slightly past the point of registry with a contact point 19, thecircuit being completed only momentarily, but nevertheless suflicientlylong to withdraw the shelf support. To facilitate this arrangement thecontact arm may be set with a sliding pressure contact which will tendto carry it naturally into a depression in the path of travel betweencontact points, or such arrangement may be effected by a spacing or stopdevice attached to shaft 41. such as shown in Figs. 11 and 13 on shaft99.

Complete electrical operation Figs. 11, 12 and 13 illustrate anembodiment wherein shaft 41 serves merely as the upper sustaining memberfor T couplings to-hold the upper ends of gear shafting soon to bedescribed. The ratchet and pawl mechanism is rearranged to conform witha more complete electriication of the device, and, as in the previouslydescribed embodiment, the sprocket and chain are dispensed with. beingreplaced with solenoid shelf tipping arrangements as already disclosed.

For convenience the unit will be described with reference to an assemblysuch as shown in Fig. 1 wherein two merchandising units are combinedwith a central premium unit. the operating mechanism for the assemblybeing shown in Figs. l1 w13. A

The merchandising unit knob 24 causes operation of gears 38 and 39 andvertical shaft 49 in the manner already described. Referring now toFigs. 1ll 12 and 13, shaft 49 carries a gear 85 which meshes with a gear99 carried on shaft 91. Gear 96 is provided with means for carrying anumber of keys 88, several being shown, and substantially corresponds tothe premium wheel of the earlier described machine.- These keys mayconveniently be pegs placedlin bored apertures, or may be otherwisepositioned or attached. peration of the merchandising unit progressivelyrotates gear 96 until a key 88 abuts an arm 89 swingably mounted onshaft 99. Arm 89 has pivotally mounted thereon a paw! 9| in engagement.

with a ratchet wheel 92 which is alxed to shaft 99. 'Ihe rotary motionimparted to shaft 99 by the ratchet and pawl swings a contact arm 93which is also tact arm is mounted for circular travel on a contact disccarrying a plurality of contact points 95. Contact arm 93 (Fig. 11) hasa downwardly pro- .iecting contact pin 93a which is adapted to slidablytravel over points 95. A peg 96 projects downwardly from arm 93 andcarries a follower device 91 disposed to slldably engage the peripheryof an annular disc member |9| which is provided with a number ofsmoothly curved projections 98 and depressions 99 corresponding to thenumber of contact points 95 on disc 94. A compressed coil spring, |99.maintains the follower in contact with the disk periphery, whereby arm93 will come to rest at a location between contacts. Arm 93 completes acircuit through solenoid coils, not now shown but similar in allrespects to those illustrated in Fig. 9, so as to successively tip thepremium shelves as explained above. No wiring diagram is shown for thedevice illustrated in Figs. 11 and l2, since the contact arm 93 and disc94 cooperate with successive solenoid coils as shown in Figs. 9 and 10and described in connection therewith. A cable carries insulated strandsof conductor, one from each contact point 95 to a correspondingsolenoid, and a single return lead is connected to the contact arm, theline current being introduced at any convenient point in the returnlead.

'Ihe device shown in Figs. 11 and 12 comprises two merchandising units,each one associated with the operation of the arm 89, ratchetI 92, pawl9| and contact arm 93, as described with reference only to onemerchandising unit. Operation 'of either merchandising unit serves toadvance the key-carrying wheels 86 and |92 and each of said wheelsbrings keys into occasional abutment with armiy nxed to shaft sa. saideen- Mechanical operation with a plurality of premium wheels Figs. 14and 15 illustrate a further embodiment of my invention wherein amechanically operated assembly'may be provided with a plurality ofpremium wheels, all operating a single premium unit. .A significa-ntadvantage to the use of a unit of this nature is that the separatemerchandising units may be operated by coins of varying denominations.one for example being a penny machine and another a nickel machine, etc.The advantage of this feature is that in the premium wheel correspondingto the coin of higher denomination, the service operator may distributea larger number of actuating keys to insure the vending of a greatervalue or number of profit sharing items.

'I'he operation of the device may be readily understood from thedescription already given with reference to the previous embodimentillustrated in Figs. l to 7. Shaft |94 operates the chain sprocket |95and chain |96 so as to tip the premium shelves. In the presentembodiment two swinging arms |91 and |98 are actuated respectively bykeys |99 and H9 on discs and ||2.

'Shafts ||3 and |I4 are operated by knobs (not shown) on themerchandisingunits and they in turn rotate premium wheels and H2 throughintermediate gears l5 and IB respectively. 'I'he ratchet and pawlarrangement to communicate the swinging movement of arms |91 and |99 tothe shaft |94 are indicated generally-at I Il and H9 but are not shownin detail in view of the thorough discussion of this feature inconnection with Figs. 1 to '1. In the present instance two frictionclutches 9 and |29 or any practical lost motion device may provide forlost motion between the chain sprocket and the ratchet wheels when theshelves are empty.- y

Assuming that disc 2 is the premium wheel corresponding to the coin ofhighest denomination, the service operator is enabled to distribute anequitably proportioned larger number of keys 9 on the disc face so as toincrease the number or value of profit sharing items to the'purchaserduring operation of this unit. The number of keys which may bedistributed for a complete rotation of the disc rests wholly within thediscretion of the operator in consideration of the percentage of theprofits which he may return to the customer while retaining a properoperating margin.

A device may be provided for sounding a gong or otherwise audiblyinforming the operator that a premium is about to be delivered. Such adevice, while adaptable with suitable modifications to all embodiments,.is shown as applied to the machine illustrated in Fig. 4. It comprisesan arm 2| pivotally mounted at |22 and having its lower end |23 inposition to engage a gong |24 which may be suspended from the cabinettop or otherwise suitably mounted. The upper end of the arm engages aratchet ailixed to the chain sprocket, said ratchet (not shown)communieating an impulse to the arm at each increment of advance of thechain so as to sound the gong simultaneously with the premium delivery.

Suilicient embodiments of the invention have been shown and described toillustrate the fact that the invention may be embodied in an extremelysimple and trouble-proof construction which is adaptable to mechanicaloperation, manually actuated, or, to varying extents, to combinedmechanical and electrical operation. It is of course possible to makethe operation completely electrical to the extent that the insertion ofa coin completes a circuit, and, with the addition of electrical powerdevices such as electrical motors, etc., thereby actuates trains ofgearing or other electrical devices which can be set up by any skilledelectrician after a study of the devices herein shown.

What I claim is:

1. In a vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit, apremium dispensing unit including at least one premium-bearing, y ed`slidLsupnporting means for maintaining said shelf in horizontalposition, a rotatable premium wheel disposed to operate throughsuccessive increments of travel on -successive respective operations ofsaid coin operated unit, a key carried by said premium wheel, a movablearm in the path of travel of said key. a pawl carried by said arm, aratchet wheel in engagement with said pawl, a rotatable shaft alllxed.to said ratchet wheel, and means operatively associated with said shaftand with said shelf supporting means for intermittently withdrawing saidshelf supporting means wherever said movable arm is engaged by said key.so as to intermittently drop said shelf and deliver a premium to theoperator of said coin operated unit.

2.-.In a vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit, apremium dispensing unit including at least one premium-bearing, hingedshelf. electrically energized shelf supportingmeans for maintaining saidshelf in horizontal position, a rotatable premium wheel disposed tooperate through successive increments of travel on successive respectiveoperations of said coin operated unit, a key carried by said premiumwheel, a movable arm in the path oftravel of said key, a pawl carried bysaid arm, a ratchet wheel in engagement with said pawl. a rotatableshaft aillxed to said ratchet wheel, and means operatively associatedwith said shaft including a sliding contact arm carried by said shaftover a succession of contact points so as to actuate said electricallyenergizable supporting means and intermittently withdraw said shelfsupporting means whenever said movable arm is engaged by said key, so asto intermittently drop said shelf and deliver a premium to the operatorof said coin operated unit.

3. In a. vending machine comprising at least 011e in Operated unit, apremium dispensing unit including at least one premium-bearing, hingedshelf, supporting means for maintaining said shelf in horizontalposition, a rotatable premium wheel disposed to rotate throughfractional increments of rotation on successive operations of said coinoperated unit, trip means carried by said wheel at irregularly spacedlocations on the periphery vof said wheel, and means sensitive tocontact with said trip means and disposed, on said contact, to withdrawsaid shelf supporting means whereby said shelf drops and delivers saidpremium to an opera-tor. v

4. In a vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit, apremium dispensing unit including at least one premium-bearing, hingedshelf. supporting means for maintaining said shelf in horizontalposition, a rotatable premium wheel disposed to rotate throughfractional increments of rotation on successive operations of said coinoperated unit, a plurality of keys carried by said wheel at irregularlyspaced locations around the periphery thereof. and means sensitive tocontact with any one of said keys and disposed, on said contact. towithdraw said shelf supporting means whereby said shelf drops anddelivers said premium to an operator.

5. In a vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit. apremium dispensing unit including at least one premium bearing shelf.supporting means for normally maintaining said shelf in horizontalposition said means including an electrically energizable solenoid and aplunger responsive to energization of said solenoid. a rotatable premiumwheel disposed to rotate through successive increments of travel byrespectively successive operations of said coin operated unit, tripmeans carried by said wheel at irregularly spaced locations on theperiphery of said wheel, and a plurality of spaced electrical terminalsand a contacting means movable relatively thereto. said relativemovement of `the contacting means being responsive to advance of saidtrip means from a starting point, whereby a solenoid is intermittentlyenergized to withdraw said shelf supporting means and deliver a premiumto the operator during some only of said incrementsoitravel.

i6. In a vending machine comprising a plurality of coin operated units,a. premium dispensing unit including at least one premium bearing shelf.shelf supporting means for maintaining said shelf in premium retainingposition, means for tipping said shelf whereby the premium containedthereon may be delivered to the operator, a plurality of premium wheels.one respectively operatively associated with each of said coin operatedunits, each said premium wheel disposed to rotate through fractionalincrements of rotation on successive operations of its respective coinoperated unit, trip means carried by each said wheel at irregularlyspaced locations on the periphery thereof, and means sensitive topassage thereby of said trip means and disposed, on contact with any ofsaid trip means. to withdraw said shelf supporting means whereby saidshelf is tipped so as to deliver a premium to the operator.

7. In a vending machine of the type wherein an article of merchandise isdispensed responsive to each successive insertion of s. coin therein, aunit for intermittently dispensing a premium distinct from such articleof merchandise, means in said premium dispensing unit for releasablyretaining said premium, and means responsive to a predeterminable numberof said coin insertions and operatively associated with said premiumretaining means, whereby said premium retaining means is renderedinoperative at each such response and a premium is delivered after eachsuch predeterminable number of coin insertions.

8. A vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit, apremium dispensing unit, said premium dispensing unit including at leastone premium retaining member, said member being movably mounted butnormally maintained in premium retaining position, and operatable meansadjacent said member and disposed, when operated, to control movement ofsaid member to release said premium for delivery to an operator. saidoperatable means being intermittently responsive, at preestablished butirregular intervals, to operation of said coin operated unit.

9. A vending machine comprising at least one coin operated unit, apremium dispensing unit, said premium dispensing unit including at leastone premium retaining member, said member being movably mounted butnormally maintained in premium retaining position, a rotatable premiumWheel disposed to rotate through fractional increments of rotation onsuccessive operations of said coin operated unit, trip means carried bysaid wheel, and operatable means sensitive to contact with said tripmeans and disposed, when operated, to control movement of said premiumretaining member to dislodge said premium for delivery to an operator.

TROY E. STAIR.

